COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Ohio State Synchronized Swimming team will host its final home meet of the season, the Jessica Beck Memorial Tournament, on Saturday, February 3rd, at the McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion.

The Buckeyes are coming off an outstanding start to the season at the OSU Zero Waste Dual Meet in which they dominated Michigan 96.5-58. Ohio State will try to duplicate that performance against a wider array of competition on Saturday.

The Jessica Beck Memorial Meet, formerly known as the OSU Collegiate Meet, is in honor of Buckeye synchronized swimmer Jessica Catherine Beck who died Sept. 15, 2005. Beck, who was 21 and a native of Richmond, Va., would have competed in her senior season in 2006. The Buckeyes renamed the OSU Collegiate Meet to the Jessica Beck Memorial Meet in her honor in 2007.

In her second year at Ohio State, Beck was a member of the Buckeye ‘B’ team that placed second at the North Regional championships and fourth at the Collegiate National championships. As a junior, she played an integral role in helping the OSU ‘B’ team regain the bronze medal at the U.S. Collegiate National championships with her flawless execution of the vertical team lift.

Beck also excelled in the classroom, garnering Academic All-America accolades for three-consecutive years. Majoring in communication, Beck was a two-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree, three-time Ohio State Scholar-Athlete award winner and was named to the Dean's List.

ZERO WASTE EFFORTS

As with all synchro events at McCorkle, the Jessica Beck Memorial Tournament will be zero waste. This means that OSU will continue their efforts to push for 90% of waste from this event to be diverted from landfills to be reused again. The waste bins inside the pavillion are separated into three compartments for recycling, compost and landfill. All food supplied to teams, judges, and fans will be served on compostable materials, so that they can easily be recycled and diverted from landfills.

For those attending, signage will be in placed throughout the building directing fans where to recycle their trash. Volunteers will also be on hand at the bins helping fans determine what is or what is not recyclable.

Since the inception of this program in 2016, Ohio State has continued to get closer to the 90% mark. At last year’s Jessica Beck Memorial, those in attendance were able to divert almost 69% of materials away from landfills. Last season, OSU topped out at an impressive 77.5% diversion rate.

Of course, we can do better. Together, let’s prove why we are the best fans in the land as we continue to be one of the largest universities to strive for zero waste. It’s the Buckeyes’ last home meet of the season, so let’s reach that 90% goal!!